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Happy 100th Birthday, Fred Mack!

This Sunday, original CCOC member (#119, back when we had membership numbers) Fred Mack will celebrate his 100th birthday the same way he observed his 95th -

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, Mar 18 12:12 PM

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This Sunday, original CCOC member (#119, back when we had membership numbers) Fred Mack will celebrate his 100th birthday the same way he observed his 95th - by skydiving. Later a Hummer limousine will carry him to a celebration with a hundred or so friends from the American Helicopter Museum where he remains active. Outside will be his 1953 Jaguar XK 120. Fred bought the car new that year and everything is stock and original except for the paint, upholstery and top. Jaguar Cars Ltd., said he's the longest and oldest Jaguar driver in the world. Mack intends to drive it to the hotel himself. "Everybody is offering to drive this for me. I can drive this myself! That's what this noise is all about, my 100th birthday."

Fred was born on March 20, 1911, in Hagerstown, Md. He worked as a machinist, designer and engineer for Fairchild, Brewster, Curtiss, and Piasecki Helicopter.

"I have owned 18 autos, from a Crosley on up," Mack writes. "I have driven in 46 states, Mexico, and Canada. After more than 80 years of driving, I estimate that I have driven at least three million miles, mostly at top speed."

At the American Helicopter Museum, Fred has been a volunteer since 2002 two days a week, using his skills to fabricate fittings, supports, and missing parts. Fellow volunteer Don Ekquist said "If there's a complicated part you want made, just give Fred a piece of aluminum and a ball-peen hammer and after a while it's done."
Sherron Trio, who coordinates the museum's volunteers, says: "He's one hell of a vibrant 100-year-old man who has a lot of life left in him."

This Sunday, original CCOC member (#119, back when we had membership numbers) Fred Mack will celebrate his 100th birthday the same way he observed his 95th - by skydiving. Later a Hummer limousine will carry him to a celebration with a hundred or so friends from the American Helicopter Museum where he remains active. Outside will be his 1953 Jaguar XK 120. Fred bought the car new that year and everything is stock and original except for the paint, upholstery and top. Jaguar Cars Ltd., said he's the longest and oldest Jaguar driver in the world. Mack intends to drive it to the hotel himself. "Everybody is offering to drive this for me. I can drive this myself! That's what this noise is all about, my 100th birthday."

Fred was born on March 20, 1911, in Hagerstown, Md. He worked as a machinist, designer and engineer for Fairchild, Brewster, Curtiss, and Piasecki Helicopter.

"I have owned 18 autos, from a Crosley on up," Mack writes. "I have driven in 46 states, Mexico, and Canada. After more than 80 years of driving, I estimate that I have driven at least three million miles, mostly at top speed."

At the American Helicopter Museum, Fred has been a volunteer since 2002 two days a week, using his skills to fabricate fittings, supports, and missing parts. Fellow volunteer Don Ekquist said "If there's a complicated part you want made, just give Fred a piece of aluminum and a ball-peen hammer and after a while it's done."
Sherron Trio, who coordinates the museum's volunteers, says: "He's one hell of a vibrant 100-year-old man who has a lot of life left in him."